Rupee depreciation helping UAE NRIs buy properties in India: Survey

DUBAI: The decline in value of rupee over the last one year is luring NRIs living in the UAE to buy property in India even if the price stretched up to one crore or more, according to a survey.

According to the survey conducted here by Sumansa Exhibitions who are organisers of Indian Property Show, 89 per cent of NRIs (non-resident Indians) in the UAE are planning to leverage the power of their additional income by investing in properties worth up to 1 crore and beyond.

The weakening rupee gives more power to dirham currency that they have and current sluggish market enables them to buy properties at a cheaper rate in India, it said.

It added that 26.7 per cent NRIs are looking to buy properties as additional investment, a sharp rise of 6 per cent in one year.

NRIs in the UAE mostly prefer investing in property as it is one of the safest option and gives good return as the capital value of any property appreciates, Sumansa Exhibition CEO Sunil Jaiswal said.

"Plus, there is always feeling of returning home since NRIs don't get citizenship in this region, so property investment becomes natural choice. We can support this further as the survey also reveals that Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi feature in the top five destinations list," he said.

This shows that they are looking for cities which will give them good returns, he said. "Even if the NRI takes home- loan, his payouts are much cheaper as compared to last year. Hence, overall investing in this sector when rupee is low, makes sense," Jaiswal added.

Honey Katiyal, CEO of Dubai-based Indian real estate consultancy Investors Clinic, said over the last year, his company has witnessed demand for properties which are higher in value as the NRIs want to cash in on this situation and invest more to get better returns in future.

The trend is to invest in additional property in metro cities and enjoy the capital appreciation in 4-5 years time, he added. A representative of Indiabulls said with rupee depreciating in the past couple of years, there has been a good amount of remittance going back to India.

Additionally, the bank deposits have also started yielding good returns making that as a good investment alternative.

"However properties continue to be a preferred choice for expat Indians for investment and asset creation. What they look for is a good brand to invest and a price point which is good to enter. For NRIs, a reputed developer with good track record, quality and possible price appreciation is an important factor," he said.